Birdwatching in Iquitos

By Fiona Leslie

Arriving at the remote jungle city of Iquitos, which is only possible by plane or boat, the intense heat and humidity promise that you are entering the gateway to one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the Peruvian Amazon. A tour of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve affords the most wonderful opportunities to witness birds and animals in their truly tropical rainforest habitat.

At dawn and dusk, the jungle comes alive with flying colours and a cacophony of calls. Majestic birds, from scintillating scarlet, blue and yellow macaws to the distinctively-billed toucan and Black-collared hawks, soar overhead. Going steadily upstream striking white-faced saki monkeys curiously peer down, and the occasional three-toed sloth slumbers in a tree top. A white-necked Cocoi Heron leads the boat further upstream while a small flock of large-billed terns perch on a log. At the river’s edge, some basking turtles look strangely out of place this far inland. Here, spot a Rufescent Heron, and there a brilliant red flash of a Ruby-capped Tanager, or the more common Greater and Lesser Kiskadees parading their cheery yellow stripes. Oropendulas and caciques bob in and out of their woven pendular nests, whilst a pair of silver-beaked tanagers shy away in a low tree. As the river opens, Yellow-hooded Blackbirds busy themselves in a bush and a Scarlet-headed Blackbird flashes past.

A softly-paddled night boat trip up to an ox-bow lake is a tense ride through the unknown darkness around. Caimans skulk around the banks, their eyes shining in the torch light. Careful observation finds the round sturdy profile of a Horned Screamer perched on a low, overhanging branch, whilst a troop of Black Monkeys crash about noisily in the canopy above. A short torchlight trek in the undergrowth reveals Nightjars, enormous frogs in the leaf litter, and a female Pink-toed Tarantula settled onto a fallen nest which, at the size of your palm, is still a mere youngster.

At the lake by the lodge, the early morning visit of a Sun Bittern, flapping awkwardly and revealing its strikingly patterned wings, is a treat, while the Blue-crowned and White-eyed Parakeets begin making their presence known loudly and clearly in the surrounding palm trees. After the initial cacophony of the dawn chorus, the forest sounds die down and it is possible to pick out the chirping of woodpeckers, Olivacious Woodcreepers, thrush-like wrens and a colourful Yellow-rumped Cacique or a White-eared Jacama in a dark corner of the forest. A shrill but delicate cry is a tell-tale sign of Pygmy Marmosets, their tiny pink faces looking strangely aged and timid as they stop to peer at the human interlopers.

The Amazonian forest around Iquitos has an enormous variety of birds and natural wonders on offer and should not be missed on any trip to Peru.